The OHL Draft process for the class of 2016 has moved into full swing now with many elite tournaments in the book, and top prospects fielding offers from the top-end NHL agencies. The Scouting News breaks down the top 272 prospects for this exciting draft class! Players making major headway up the rankings list this month include the likes of Connor Roberts, Eric Guest, Akil Thomas, Ethan Manderville, D.J. King, Chris Playfair, Barrett Hayton, Hunter Holmes, Marino Moro, Nathan Dunkley, Aidan Dudas, Luke Moncada, Braydon Leeking, Jukka Schotter, Christian Clark, Chet Phillips and Mitchell Pellarin!

The Scouting News is pleased to release a copy of its 2015 OHL Draft Pre-Season top 300 prospect list. This list is a season long collaboration (which started back in August) of cross referencing seventy two (72) top experts (coaches, managers, scouts, agents and advisors) who have spent tens of thousands of hours in the rink's viewing games (and even more importantly) practice and training sessions over the course of many years with this age group. We'd like to thank our sources for going the extra mile, and assisting us in putting together a list of the best-qualified prospects. Risers in this months edition include Gabe Vilardi, Ryan McLeod, Brett Neumann, Quinn Hanna, Nick Suzuki, Evan Bouchard, Matthew Strome, Colton Incze, Shane Bulitka, Finn Evans, Jaden Peca and many more! The complete top 301 list is in our members area!

One scout made it perfectly clear today Connor Roberts (Grey Bruce Highlanders, Center, 2000) is the talk of the city with fellow recruiters in 2015 and gave us his unique insight on the following (a) Does he deserve to be ranked as a top six overall draft rated player for the 2016 OHL draft, (b) Is his 200 foot style game a perfect fit for the OHL, (c) Could he possibly be the drafts most complete forward, (d) How does his game stack up against players like Thomas and McShane on the offensive front?

One scouting source brought in his own unique perspective to The Scouting News ranking process today by giving us his two cents on Teth Burles (Missisauga Rebels, 2000, Forward) and, namely, his clarification on (a) Why have scouts been praising his play as of late, more and more, (b) Will his lack of size hurt his OHL draft day status next year, (c) Which two areas of his game will impress OHL scouts the most in a year, (d) How well does he do against bigger defenders?

We asked one scouting source whether or not he'd place Alexis Gravel (G Mississauga Senators 2000) within the top 20 picks for our upcoming 2015 OHL Draft list, and got a most definite answer, along with some keen insight (answers) on questions of high pertinence, such as, (a) Will he be eligible for the OHL Draft, (b) Where does he deserve to be ranked, (c) Is he going to project out to be a better goaltender than his father (a former NHL draft pick) long term, (d) What are his best assets as a goalie (five of them), and is he one of Canada's best?

We haven't made a great deal of changes to our OHL top 300 draft list since August of 2014 when we first put it out! Yes, it was that good, and it's stood the test of time really nicely. There are, though, seventeen minor adjustments we're considering making for Monday morning, so we've outlined them and created player notes on prospects Ian Blacker, Robbie Burt, Nick Suzuki, Isaac Ratcliffe, Zackary Jackson, Matthew Struthers, Austen Keating, Gianfranco Cassaro, Matthew Strome, Evan Bouchard, Jaden Peca, Eric Eschweiler, Daniel Berno, Colton Incze, Liam Stevens and Bryce Misley!

What are the four jack pot questions on Aidan Timmermans (Toronto Red Wings, D, 2000) right now? We think, first and foremost, we need to focus on such areas as (a) Which three aspects to his game make him a prime time, potential top 30 draft pick, (b) What about the big question mark, size, and is he going to grow, (c) College versus the OHL, what looks like best long term fit, (d) What is a scouting breakdown to his game?

Our scouting sources are abuzz this month with questions about the highly intriguing progression of Eric Guest (Elgin Middlesex, Forward, 2000), so we rise to the challenge and cover the waterfront on the following issues (a) Is he the fastest rising player for the month of February, (b) Are the Pat Kane comparisons on the money, (c) Why has he been a prized prospect on the NHL agent front for the past twelve months (what separates him from many other players in this class), (d) Where do we see him being drafted in the 2016 OHL draft, and what is his long term upside?

WHL scouts are already following the class of 2016 WHL Draft and one of the better prospects at the top of the food chain is the talented Alberta born forward Payton Krebs (2001, Rocky Mountain Raiders, F)! Will he end up being a new, improved and next generation version of Riley Stotts for 2016? Is he talented enough to be a lottery pick one year down the line? We talked with one scout who offered his two cents on this player's long term upside (and BTW, this scout gushes about this players through the roof hockey IQ).

We asked one scouting source point blank today to answer the following questions about Ethan Manderville (Ottawa Junior 67's, Forward, 2000) (a) Why are we so high on this player, and willing to rate him as a blue chip five star prospect, (b) How has this players game developed over the past 12 months, (c) Is there an advantage to having NHL bloodlines as a player prospect, (d) Will this player ever report to the OHL, or would college be a better long term fit? And here is what he had to say!